This Eastland-based business is no stinker

Ken Chapman, along with daughters Heather (center) and Phylicia run the Eastland-based "Grandpaw's Outhouse" - one of three successful businesses the family operates from the same site.(Photo: Evan Ren/Reporter-News)Buy Photo

EASTLAND – The list of humorous statements aimed at his line of work are almost endless and Eastland’s Kenneth Chapman, the owner of the Eastland-based “Grandpaw’s Outhouse” has heard every one of them.

“We’re No. 1 in No. 2.”

“Back off, this ain’t milk we’re hauling,” etc.

He allows himself to laugh about it as a matter of philosophy.

Even the name of his business tells the world that Chapman approaches the profession of renting portable toilets with a willingness to chuckle about it.

He can afford to.

Chapman, 62, is actually a serious businessman, with a gift for spotting a niche – even if it’s a niche that some people wouldn’t touch in a hazmat suit.

Basing three different businesses – Ken’s Motorcycle Shop, Grandpaw’s Tool Shed and Grandpaw’s Outhouse – all from the same site in Eastland, Chapman’s No. 2 business may actually be No. 3 or No. 1, depending on the lexicon.

“When I started doing this, there was one other company in a 100-mile area,” recalled Chapman who recognized the porta-void when a construction company came to his tool business looking for outdoor toilets to rent in 2005. “Now, there are five companies doing this, so I guess there was a niche that was seen by other people, too.”

Chapman in the meantime, has chuckled all the way to the bank.

What first began with two Porta-Johns and has grown to 80 today, with a truck to clean them and an employee to handle the workload.

Construction sites and large social gatherings such as concerts and festivals are a mainstay for the venture, which has proven to be a shrewd move on Chapman’s part.

“We have a sign up that pretty much states it, so guess I’m not ashamed of it,” Chapman said with a laugh. “It’s just one of those little things that has to be done, it needs to be there and someone has to do it.”

Of course, the gig has a certain stigma attached to it and that’s where Chapman’s sense of humor becomes extremely important.

“You don’t get to shake hands with many people when you’re out on the job site,” Chapman said. “Most of the time, people will nod and acknowledge you, but they keep moving right along and don’t want to shake hands.”

Needless to say, Chapman has his share of anecdotes.

With many of the units sitting on construction sites, the wear and tear they receive can go beyond description.

“Some of the artwork you find in there is phenomenal,” Chapman said. “It takes hours to get rid of.”

That’s not all one finds.

Though they are not involved in maintenance, Chapman’s daughters Heather (34) and Phylicia (27) both help to operate his business and their list of stories grows by the year.

Some of them aren’t for the faint of heart.

“We’ve gone to concerts and found cell phones, high heels and all kinds of interesting things in Porta-Johns,” Heather said. “A guy called a couple of weeks ago and said ‘I need you guys to come out and (empty) this Porta-John.

“And I was like ‘right now?’ And he said ‘I dropped my phone in there and I need it.’

“I told him ‘once it’s in there it’s gone.’ And he was like ‘no, it’s the water-proof kind, it will be fine. I’ve got to get it out. So I said, OK, I’ll talk to Ken and see what I can do. A couple minutes later, the guy calls back and says ‘it’s ok, I got it out.'”

For those who are curious, the debris from a Grandpaw’s Outhouse is taken via truck to a solid waste facility in Ranger.

The alternative, as Chapman points out, is far worse.

“I don’t particularly want to be an undertaker,” he said. “But thank goodness, there are people who take care of that business.”